Filamentous algae: description, reasons for its appearance in the aquarium, how to get rid of algae

Introduction

The soil is one of the most important components in a planted aquarium. On one side, plant roots grow in it, on the other, plants receive nutrients from it. It should be noted here that plants partially obtain them from water (for example, K, Ca, Mg must be present in water). The presence of nutrients in the soil is especially important for plants with a developed root system - for example, cryptocoryne. If you grow elodea, then you don’t really need soil.

On the other hand, soil can act as a buffer for changes in water chemical parameters - for example, in an aquarium with African cichlids from Lake Malawi, soil containing a lot of limestone is usually used to maintain high water hardness.

A large number of materials are used as soil. Some of them will be discussed here and recommendations will be given for preparing soil for an aquarium. These recommendations are not the only correct ones - there are many paths leading to success and many aquarists follow their own rules.

The main question when choosing soil is what kind of aquarium you are going to use it for; For an aquarium with fish, where plastic or unpretentious plants such as Anubias grow. the choice of soil is not very important, since it serves mainly decorative purposes. Regular gravel will do the job.

If you are serious about growing aquarium plants and showing off your Dutch aquarium (or the Amano laurels are keeping you awake), then, along with lighting and a carbon dioxide installation, you will also have to think about the soil.

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Soil for an aquarium with fish

If you are not interested in growing plants (for example, you like plastic plants) or have unpretentious plants in your aquarium, such as elodea, then you can use pea gravel as soil. Particle sizes are about 3-5 mm. You can use decorative primer sold in an aquarium store. No need to use fine sand. It will quickly become clogged with dirt. especially when using a bottom filter. Make sure that the soil does not change the chemical parameters of the water - avoid marble chips and similar materials that will increase the pH value and hardness of the water. How to check the soil is written below.

Soil preparation is described in the corresponding section.

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Materials for preparing soil

There are many materials that can be used to prepare soil. They differ in their chemical and physical properties. Not all of them are necessary to successfully grow plants. Materials can be divided into basic (eg gravel, sand) and additives (eg peat). Additives are used to improve soil nutrition and are added to regular gravel. Some additives contain nutrients, some are used to retain these nutrients, preventing them from leaching into the water. This ability is called CEC (cation exchange capacity) - the material is able to retain positive ions (cations) of minerals - Fe, K, Zn, etc. Moreover, these substances are available to plants, which absorb them through the root system. Materials such as peat have a high CEC. Gravel and sand have almost zero CEC.

Gravel and sand

Fine gravel (2-5 mm in size) is usually the main component for preparing aquarium soil. It is not a source of nutrients for plants and does not have the ability to retain them (low CEC). It serves to anchor plant roots, as a top layer, on top of peat, etc. On the other hand, gravel allows nutrients from the water to penetrate inside, where they are absorbed by plant roots.

Fine sand is similar to gravel in that it does not contain nutrients and does not hold them well. It is usually used in a mixture with other components, such as peat, or as a top layer. Fine sand is not recommended when using a bottom filter, as it quickly becomes clogged with dirt and there is a danger of oxygen-free zones (some types of cryptocorynes are specially grown in fine sand).

Clay and laterite

Clay is a mixture of various inorganic materials - oxides and silicates of iron, aluminum, etc. - with very small particles (1-2 microns in size or less). Clay rich in iron is red in color. Some types of clay may also contain many other minerals - Mn, Zn, Cu, etc. Since plants need these minerals in small quantities, and in large quantities they can be toxic, such clay should be mixed with peat, humus, etc., which will retain these minerals in the form of organic complexes. Clay has a high CEC (it is able to retain nutrients well because it contains negative ions that attract positive ions of metals and salts).

Usually a small amount of clay is added to the soil - 10-15%, mixing it well with sand, gravel, etc. To facilitate mixing, the clay should be soaked until it becomes cloudy; you can also roll clay balls and add them to the bottom layer of soil. You can add fertilizer to these balls. If you use dry clay in powder form, wear a mask to prevent inhalation of this dust, which is harmful to the lungs. The suspended clay makes the water cloudy, so use clay only in the bottom layer of soil, especially if you have fish that like to pick at the soil or you frequently replant plants. You can use clay that is used for modeling, just make sure that it does not contain additives that make modeling easier - there are a lot of them used now.

Avoid using large amounts of clay containing aluminum with materials that have a low pH, especially peat, as toxic aluminum dissolves in water under these conditions. You can also add some limestone or dolomite to increase the pH.

Along with clay, laterite is also used in the aquarium - red soil from the tropics, which consists mainly of iron oxides. Laterite can be sold under various names - Duplarite, etc. Laterite is usually used as a base layer because it contains a lot of iron. It has a high (although lower than that of clay or peat) CEC

Instead of clay, you can sometimes use cat litter. The cheapest one is clay. Make sure that it does not contain any additives to absorb odor, etc.

garden soil

The soil that can be dug up in the garden is a mixture of clay, sand and organic components. humus, etc., which serve as a source of nutrients for plants. You should avoid using soil (especially mixed with manure or compost), which is sold in garden stores in large quantities. It contains too many nutrients, which will lead to high concentrations in the water - causing the growth of algae, as well as active decomposition processes in the soil, which you absolutely do not need. because first of all, oxygen is pumped out of the water, and if there is a lack of it, oxygen-free rotting begins. Land with a high organic content (for example, from a forest) has a fairly high CEC.

Sometimes a mixture of rotted leaves is added to the ground to grow cryptocorynes. Those interested can find the necessary information in the literature on their cultivation. For most plants this is not necessary.

Compost is almost entirely organic. It contains many nutrients, but it must be used in extremely small quantities or, best of all, not used. In addition to the release of nutrients into the water, when it decomposes, a large amount of ammonia, which is toxic to fish, is formed in the aquarium.

Earth. used for growing plants in pots, contains a lot of peat and organic matter. It can be used as an additive, similar to peat.

Peat

Peat is a mixture of partially rotted organic fossil materials. It is very rich in organic matter and humic acids. Peat releases less organic matter into the water than compost or soil. It has a high CEC value, retaining nutrients. Peat is used as a soil additive or as an intermediate layer. To prevent peat from clouding the water, use a layer of gravel or sand on top of it. Peat has the ability to soften water, reducing its hardness. Due to its increased acidity, peat helps create an increased concentration of plant-available iron in the soil.

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Using natural soil

Of course, you can buy special soil (especially gravel and beautiful pebbles) at an aquarium store. But this is usually expensive and not very suitable for a planted aquarium where special soil is needed. You can buy a bag of beautiful stones and then use it to decorate the aquarium - as a top layer.

On the other hand, you can dig up sand, gravel, soil somewhere in a ditch or buy it from a garden center. Natural soil differs from the soil sold in the store by much less organic matter. The organic matter in such soil is already rotted, which will reduce the decomposition time of the soil when starting the aquarium. Typically, soil from a garden store is used only in small quantities, as an additive to gravel or sand. Avoid soil to which organic fertilizers have already been added - nitrates, phosphates, etc. This will cause algae to grow in the aquarium,

Collect soil in places where water does not stagnate - this will reduce the amount of salts in the soil you collect, including any metal compounds. Therefore, there is no need to dig gravel near the sewer.

If you collect gravel from a natural reservoir, then disinfect it - it may contain algae spores, bacteria, etc. You can use bleach for this.

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Preparation and use of soil in the aquarium

The use of land, including when mixed with peat, is the subject of endless debate. For some, nothing works out and the plants grow worse than when grown in plain gravel. For some, it turns out the other way around. A properly prepared mixture of soil and peat allows you to more successfully grow plants with a developed root system, for example cryptocorynes, which have a branched root system (pull a large cryptocoryne bush out of the soil and look at its roots). Plants that have white roots, indicating the presence of a large number of air channels, grow better in such soil because they can provide air flow into the soil. On the other hand, plants such as Anubias, Aponogentons, etc. They feel worse in soil where air exchange is insufficient.

The main mistake that is made when using soil is that it is used soil that is too rich in organic matter, for example, from a garden store or compost. Soil excavated from the forest does not have as much organic matter, so it can be used directly.

The same applies to peat (or a mixture of soil and peat, which usually contains less organic matter than soil from a store). It is necessary to prepare a mixture of earth and water, in which it is something like a thick soup. The mixture is then strained through a mesh, such as a fly screen. The gauze has too small holes; an aquarium net is quite suitable for this purpose. At the same time, roots, stones and other pure organic matter are filtered out. This filtered soup can be used to prepare the middle layer of soil. After filtering, it can be dried or directly used. by squeezing the water out of it, for example, through gauze. If you carefully place a top layer of sand or gravel on top, the earth will not muddy the water.

The decomposition of the land will proceed especially quickly in the first few weeks. Therefore, do not rush to add fish to such an aquarium. Use a few cheap fish (zebrafish, mollies) to start the nitrate cycle in your aquarium. During the first few weeks, a lot of nitrates and phosphates will be released, especially in soil rich in organic matter, which can lead to algae growth. One way to avoid this is to pre-soak the soil for three to four weeks and then rinse it. The peat used will initially release a lot of humic acids, which lower the pH value of the water and color it yellowish. You should change a large amount of water quite often - up to 80-90%. You can also soak the peat in advance. All these factors lead to the fact that the launch of such an aquarium takes much longer than the launch of a regular aquarium.

If you are using heating cables in the ground, it is especially important that the soil is not nutrient dense or contains a large amount of organic matter, such as peat. Decomposition will proceed too quickly when the soil heats up. You don't need too much of a good thing. If you do not have experience in using earth, then it is better to refrain from using it with cables

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How to check that the soil does not increase water hardness

If you are preparing soil for an aquarium with soft water, then you better check in advance that the soil does not increase the pH and hardness of the water. Otherwise, it will be almost impossible for you to reduce the pH value. This is especially important if you are digging from a nearby ditch or buying from a dubious location.

The easiest way is to pour the soil into a glass with acetic acid. If you see gas bubbles, this means that the acid is reacting with the soil, releasing carbon dioxide, i.e. the soil contains carbonates and bicarbonates (for example, limestone), which you do not need at all. On the other hand, if you are keeping African cichlids that live in hard water, then you may want to add a material that will have a buffering capacity to keep the pH value high.

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Laying soil in an aquarium

Here we describe one of the possible schemes for laying soil in an aquarium with plants. This scheme is not the only correct one (as usual, there are many paths to success), but it is simple and, if other conditions are met - fertilizing, proper lighting, using CO2 and, of course, following the recommendations described below, it allows you to achieve success. Failure to meet one of the conditions (lighting, CO2, etc.) can ruin all your efforts to grow a green forest in an aquarium. The success of this method has been confirmed both by my practice and by many others. If the main fish in the aquarium are fish, and plants play a secondary role, then you don’t need to do all this - you can just use gravel.

It is suggested that you do not use a bottom filter, which is not recommended for use in a planted aquarium as it will leach nutrients from the substrate into the water where they will be available to algae. On the other hand, using fine soil will quickly clog the filter. An option for using such a filter in an aquarium with plants is described below.

The soil is laid in three layers:

• The bottom layer consists of iron-rich laterite or clay-enriched gravel (you can, for example, use a mixture of gravel and cat litter - make sure that it does not contain additives to eliminate odor, etc.). The thickness of the layer is 3-5 cm. It is good to add clay balls with fertilizers to this layer. You can add a little mixture of trace elements (not containing nitrates and phosphates) - about 1 g per square meter of aquarium area. It is desirable that the mixture contains more iron, which must be in chelated form, otherwise it will not be available to plants. There is no need to use iron sulfate, which is widely used when feeding garden bushes - sulfates will reduce the acidity of the water. All this will provide nutrition to the roots of the plants. If you use heating cables, they must be laid in the bottom layer. Heating cables should not lie directly on the bottom - uneven heating of the glass can lead to cracking - use stands. Do not place fine sand or clay if you are using heating cables - this may lead to uneven overheating of the soil, etc. Be sure to read about the use of earth in conjunction with heating cables above

The middle layer contains soil with the addition of peat (15-25% by volume). Above it is written about what kind of land can be used. The thickness of the layer is 2-3 cm (no thicker - this can lead to rotting of the soil). If the soil contains a large amount of organic matter, then it should be mixed with sand. You can add trace elements and clay balls to this layer. Be sure to properly prepare the peat and soil, as described above. It also describes the pros and cons of using such a layer in an aquarium.